The Significance of the Play Within the Play Structure of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare Author Exact author Home » Literature » Poetry » The Significance of the Play Within the Play Structure of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare The Significance of the Play Within the Play Structure of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare Pages: 1 2 One of the notable characteristics of the dramatic construction and presentation of William Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the fact that it contains two distinctly different plays within the larger framework of the main play. The author’s skillful development and juxtaposition of these simultaneously unfolding plays serves the function of reiterating some of A Midsummer Night’s Dream’s principal themes. Similarly, the utilization of this multiple play structure also situates Shakespeare in relationship to the creative process and his own work. Furthermore, the three-play structure allows the reader to question the very nature of creativity and of love. The play staged by the mechanicals is particularly effective in this regard.

The comic, lighthearted tone of the players as they prepare for and fulfill their roles in Pyramus and Thisbe serves as a welcome contrast to the more dramatic circumstances between the women characters in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and Hermia, Lysander, Helen, and Demetrius, as well as the more fanciful plot involving the faeries. Even more than these other plays, the play of the mechanicals raises a number of important questions about life, love, and creative production and performance. The lower class laborers who comprise the unlikely dramatic troupe which will perform Pyramus and Thisbe are introduced to the reader in Act I, Scene II of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Everything about these players is comical, from their most superficial characteristics to their deeply embedded personality traits which include a habit of bumbling, mispronouncing words so that the meanings of their sentences are completely and comically misconstrued, and generally playing the part of fools.

As soon as the reader learns of the rag-tag actors’ names—Bottom, Flute, Snug, Snout, Starveling, and Quince– he or she becomes immediately oriented to the fact that the introduction of these characters is intended to disrupt the larger narrative of the play and if anything, provide further comic relief to the slightly more serious (although still lighthearted) main narrative. Additionally, these goofy characters also exist to raise questions about the subjects and themes in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” that are most present throughout the work. This observation is confirmed with each new detail that the reader learns about each of the tradesmen/actor characters. Nick Bottom is a weaver who, like his fellow tradesmen, has no previous acting credentials. In fact, it is not entirely clear how these men have come together or who decided that they were “worthy” of putting on a play. This issue of worthiness, or fitness, for playing certain roles, whether on the stage or on life, is a central theme and preoccupation in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Upon learning that he will be assigned to play the lead role of Pyramus, “a lover that kills himself most gallant for love” (Shakespeare 17), Bottom asserts that he will be so effective in his role that he will elicit the audience members’ tears: “I will move storms,” he proclaims to his fellow actors (Shakespeare 17). Flute is also comical and in many ways, he acts as a comic foil for Bottom, especially as Bottom ends up taking himself seriously, despite the fact that the audience is well aware of the situation. For Flute’s part, he begs not to be cast as a female character because he has “a beard coming” (Shakespeare 18). Bottom will also evidence a preoccupation with his beard later in the play, as he questions the other cast members how he should wear his beard so that it will be most appropriate and most convincing for his role. While these details may seem to be little more than humorous distractions, they actually serve much more profound purposes in the overall scheme of the play. In a certain sense, Shakespeare seems to be using these amateur actors as a way of opening a conversation both with himself and with the reader about the nature of the creative process.

The actors are so preoccupied with the minutiae of their newfound dramatic craft, yet they fail to engage more important creative concerns, such as correct pronunciation and the mastery of crucial dramatic resources and techniques, including memorization, line cues, timing, and the congruence of affect with speech. Quince spends much of the troupe’s rehearsal time trying to harmonize the untutored actors so that their performance will eventually, hopefully, play out seamlessly. While it can be suggested that Shakespeare is merely offering a comical interlude to discuss the creative process, there is also the dual purpose of how these issues make the reader even more keenly aware of some of the major themes in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare Shakespeare was, of course, masterful in the use of all of these resources and techniques, so perhaps his preoccupation with them in this play within a play was more intended to be a larger critique of creative processes, and the dramatic process in particular.

Shakespeare seems to be asking, through the clever staging of this subplot or sub-play, what elements of the creative process are most important, and which elements are most likely to determine the effect of the play in terms of the degree to which it engages the viewer and helps him or her to comprehend the play’s central themes. This hypothesis about Shakespeare’s intentions seems to gain additional evidence when one considers the extended conversation among the tradesmen-turned-actors regarding the nature of the setting and the props that can be employed in order to faithfully render the scene that conversation about the nature of the setting and the props that can be employed in order to faithfully render the scene that they believe Pyramus and Thisbe requires. The actors are most preoccupied with the ways in which moonlight can be evoked and how a wall, which they consider central to the development of dynamic tension in the plot, can be represented. One character asserts in one of the important quotes from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” , “we must have a wall in the great chamber… for Paramus [sic] and Thisby [sic]… did talk through a chink in the wall” (Shakespeare 47).

The players debate whether an actual wall could be brought to the stage, and conclude that it would not be possible to do so. Instead, given the importance of the wall to the development of the story, it is determined that one of the trademen/actors will play the part of a wall. Again, while these may seem to be petty details hardly deserving of the several lines of dialogue which they occupy in the text of the play, Shakespeare allows the men the liberty to explore these issues, perhaps as a means for he himself, as well as the reader, to reflect upon the different elements that comprise the dramatic product and process. Indeed, this particular conversation among the Pyramus and Thisbe players is very process oriented, and invites the reader to consider what thoughts and actions are required in order to bring a play before an audience. The conversation also causes the reader to consider who is responsible for bringing the play before an audience. There is shared responsibility between the playwright and the actors, the latter being the party responsible for interpreting the former’s intentions.

Shakespeare Study Guides: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Play Within the Play Quince enters first to narrate the prologue, the Royals waste no time discussing his skill level: Theseus: This fellow doth not stand upon his points. Quince stumbles through and Snout enters as Wall. His body quite literally represents a stone wall. Later in this little show, Wall will stick out his hand and make a circle with his thumb and forefinger. This is the chink through which the lovers, Pyramus and Thisbe, speak. Pyramus is the main character and young lover. Bottom plays Pyramus with flamboyance and gusto. Bottom responds to the Royals' ridicule with explanations: ... "Deceiving me" is Thisbe's cue: She is to enter now, and I am to spy her through the wall... After the laughable exchange between Pyramus and Thisbe, he tells her to meet him at 'Ninny's tomb'; he is supposed to say 'Ninus' tomb.' The next scene is at Ninus' tomb and Lion and Moonshine enter. Starveling, who plays Moonshine, is a sensitive soul, and his feelings are deeply hurt when the Royals comment on his performance.

Starveling drops character, calls out, "All I have to say is..." and storms off. Later, the Royals will call out things such as "Well shone, Moon!" so we can infer that they meant no harm and are trying to make it up to him. Thisbe enters, Lion roars, Thisbe screams and drops her shawl (or 'mantle.') She runs off and Lion chews on her shawl before exiting. Enter Pyramus and he, of course, thinks that Lion has killed Thisbe. Pyramus kills himself, which is an hysterical scene as he keeps dying and getting back up to continue in his death throes. Nick Bottom is a ham. Thisbe enters and finds him. She delivers her entertaining monologue and stabs herself. It is not long before Bottom and Flute are up again, and Flute offers to perform more. Theseus declines: No epilogue, I pray you; for your play needs no excuse. All is done with joviality and the Royals give hearty applause. This scene ends on an upbeat and positive note.

◄ ● ● ● ● ● ► A Midsummer Night's Dream- Play within a play - GCSE English - Marked by Teachers.com A Midsummer Night's Dream A Midsummer Night's Dream- Play within a play Extracts from this document... Introduction Discuss the role of the play- within- a- play in Act V of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Does the Pyramus and Thisbe story have any relevance to the main story, or is it simply a comical interlude? What effect does the mechanicals production of their play have on the tone of the play as a whole? The Pymamus and Thisbe story in Act V of A Midsummer Night's Dream plays an important role to the main story. Not only does the play- within- a- play echoes with the story of the four lovers- Helena, Hermia, Lysander and Demetrius, it also serves as a reinforcement of the theme: love. Though the mechanicals' production seems to be a comic interlude, it is a warning to both the pairs of lovers and to the audience about the potential danger brought by love's blindness.

Despite the tragic content of the play- within- a- play, the mechanicals' comic illustration and performance makes the play a lot more lighthearted. On top of that, the play- within- a- play brings in the major message of the story- that "the best in this kind [of play] are but shadows; and the worst are no worse, if imagination amend[s] them." ...read more. Middle Splendid does the idea sound, but obviously elopement would not be the best solution. It is way too risky and dangerous and the main reason of them making such decision is that love makes a person impatient and selfish. As John Donne said in The Good Morrow, the lovers "possess one world, each hath one and is one", they are living in a world with no outsiders. The objections and obstacles "stand as an edict in destiny", a kind of "a customary cross" which teaches them "trial patience". Therefore, like a fence in front, what they only need to do is to jump over it. However, did they think about walking around it or any other methods?

Echoing the main story, Thisbe as well though fully aware of the consequences, decides to make a rash decision and to meet Pyramus in a secret place, the Ninus' tomb. "Reason and love keep little company nowadays", in fact, both plays possess the same message. Towards the climax of both plays, the lovers no longer hold senses and unreason begins to appear. ...read more. Conclusion The play itself loses it seriousness and heaviness, and is then becoming a lot more like a comical interlude. As the actors lack knowledge towards acting and the play, it adds comic effect to the play. Overusing poetic techniques such as alliteration and weird acting made by the wall, lion and moonlight make the performance "the silliest stuff" ever heard. This in fact quite matches with the Duke's intention that "the pale companion is not for [his] pomp" and that "melancholy [should] forth to funerals". Instead of putting attention on the content of the play, much emphasis is on the simplicity of the workers. In fact, readers are reminded not to take the play seriously as they are just "dreams" which comes and goes quickly.

As mentioned by Theseus "the best in this kind [of play] are but shadows; and the worst are no worse, if imagination amend[s] them." Therefore, we should take the play lightheartedly as they are no more than visions. All in all, the "tedious brief scene" parallels with the main story as both plays deal with the obstacles of love and the unreason of love. Though the play- within- a- play ends tragically, it turns out to have a hilarious ending and matches with the play's ending as well. ...read more. The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE A Midsummer Night's Dream section. Found what you're looking for? Start learning 29% faster today 150,000+ documents available SparkNotes: A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Themes, Symbols, & Motifs A Midsummer Night’s Dream A Midsummer Night’s Dream William Shakespeare Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.

Love’s Difficulty “The course of true love never did run smooth,” comments Lysander, articulating one of A Midsummer Night’s Dream’s most important themes—that of the difficulty of love (I.i.134). Though most of the conflict in the play stems from the troubles of romance, and though the play involves a number of romantic elements, it is not truly a love story; it distances the audience from the emotions of the characters in order to poke fun at the torments and afflictions that those in love suffer. The tone of the play is so lighthearted that the audience never doubts that things will end happily, and it is therefore free to enjoy the comedy without being caught up in the tension of an uncertain outcome. The theme of love’s difficulty is often explored through the motif of love out of balance—that is, romantic situations in which a disparity or inequality interferes with the harmony of a relationship.

The prime instance of this imbalance is the asymmetrical love among the four young Athenians: Hermia loves Lysander, Lysander loves Hermia, Helena loves Demetrius, and Demetrius loves Hermia instead of Helena—a simple numeric imbalance in which two men love the same woman, leaving one woman with too many suitors and one with too few. The play has strong potential for a traditional outcome, and the plot is in many ways based on a quest for internal balance; that is, when the lovers’ tangle resolves itself into symmetrical pairings, the traditional happy ending will have been achieved. Somewhat similarly, in the relationship between Titania and Oberon, an imbalance arises out of the fact that Oberon’s coveting of Titania’s Indian boy outweighs his love for her. Later, Titania’s passion for the ass-headed Bottom represents an imbalance of appearance and nature: Titania is beautiful and graceful, while Bottom is clumsy and grotesque. Magic The fairies’ magic, which brings about many of the most bizarre and hilarious situations in the play, is another element central to the fantastic atmosphere of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Shakespeare uses magic both to embody the almost supernatural power of love (symbolized by the love potion) and to create a surreal world. Although the misuse of magic causes chaos, as when Puck mistakenly applies the love potion to Lysander’s eyelids, magic ultimately resolves the play’s tensions by restoring love to balance among the quartet of Athenian youths. Additionally, the ease with which Puck uses magic to his own ends, as when he reshapes Bottom’s head into that of an ass and recreates the voices of Lysander and Demetrius, stands in contrast to the laboriousness and gracelessness of the craftsmen’s attempt to stage their play. Dreams As the title suggests, dreams are an important theme in A Midsummer Night’s Dream; they are linked to the bizarre, magical mishaps in the forest. Hippolyta’s first words in the play evidence the prevalence of dreams (“Four days will quickly steep themselves in night, / Four nights will quickly dream away the time”), and various characters mention dreams throughout (I.i.7–8).

The theme of dreaming recurs predominantly when characters attempt to explain bizarre events in which these characters are involved: “I have had a dream, past the wit of man to say what / dream it was. Man is but an ass if he go about t’expound this dream,” Bottom says, unable to fathom the magical happenings that have affected him as anything but the result of slumber. Shakespeare is also interested in the actual workings of dreams, in how events occur without explanation, time loses its normal sense of flow, and the impossible occurs as a matter of course; he seeks to recreate this environment in the play through the intervention of the fairies in the magical forest. At the end of the play, Puck extends the idea of dreams to the audience members themselves, saying that, if they have been offended by the play, they should remember it as nothing more than a dream. This sense of illusion and gauzy fragility is crucial to the atmosphere of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as it helps render the play a fantastical experience rather than a heavy drama. Motifs Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, and literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes.

Contrast The idea of contrast is the basic building block of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The entire play is constructed around groups of opposites and doubles. Nearly every characteristic presented in the play has an opposite: Helena is tall, Hermia is short; Puck plays pranks, Bottom is the victim of pranks; Titania is beautiful, Bottom is grotesque. Further, the three main groups of characters (who are developed from sources as varied as Greek mythology, English folklore, and classical literature) are designed to contrast powerfully with one another: the fairies are graceful and magical, while the craftsmen are clumsy and earthy; the craftsmen are merry, while the lovers are overly serious. Contrast serves as the defining visual characteristic of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with the play’s most indelible image being that of the beautiful, delicate Titania weaving flowers into the hair of the ass-headed Bottom. It seems impossible to imagine two figures less compatible with each other. The juxtaposition of extraordinary differences is the most important characteristic of the play’s surreal atmosphere and is thus perhaps the play’s central motif; there is no scene in which extraordinary contrast is not present.

Symbols Symbols are objects, characters, figures, and colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts. Theseus and Hippolyta Theseus and Hippolyta bookend A Midsummer Night’s Dream, appearing in the daylight at both the beginning and the end of the play’s main action. They disappear, however, for the duration of the action, leaving in the middle of Act I, scene i and not reappearing until Act IV, as the sun is coming up to end the magical night in the forest. Shakespeare uses Theseus and Hippolyta, the ruler of Athens and his warrior bride, to represent order and stability, to contrast with the uncertainty, instability, and darkness of most of the play. Whereas an important element of the dream realm is that one is not in control of one’s environment, Theseus and Hippolyta are always entirely in control of theirs. Their reappearance in the daylight of Act IV to hear Theseus’s hounds signifies the end of the dream state of the previous night and a return to rationality.

The Love Potion The love potion is made from the juice of a flower that was struck with one of Cupid’s misfired arrows; it is used by the fairies to wreak romantic havoc throughout Acts II, III, and IV. Because the meddling fairies are careless with the love potion, the situation of the young Athenian lovers becomes increasingly chaotic and confusing (Demetrius and Lysander are magically compelled to transfer their love from Hermia to Helena), and Titania is hilariously humiliated (she is magically compelled to fall deeply in love with the ass-headed Bottom). The love potion thus becomes a symbol of the unreasoning, fickle, erratic, and undeniably powerful nature of love, which can lead to inexplicable and bizarre behavior and cannot be resisted. The Craftsmen’s Play The play-within-a-play that takes up most of Act V, scene i is used to represent, in condensed form, many of the important ideas and themes of the main plot. Because the craftsmen are such bumbling actors, their performance satirizes the melodramatic Athenian lovers and gives the play a purely joyful, comedic ending.

Pyramus and Thisbe face parental disapproval in the play-within-a-play, just as Hermia and Lysander do; the theme of romantic confusion enhanced by the darkness of night is rehashed, as Pyramus mistakenly believes that Thisbe has been killed by the lion, just as the Athenian lovers experience intense misery because of the mix-ups caused by the fairies’ meddling. The craftsmen’s play is, therefore, a kind of symbol for A Midsummer Night’s Dream itself: a story involving powerful emotions that is made hilarious by its comical presentation. Rude Mechanicals in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com Rude Mechanicals in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream Watch short & fun videos Start Your Free Trial Today An error occurred trying to load this video. Try refreshing the page, or contact customer support. You must create an account to continue watching Register for a free trial Are you a student or a teacher? I am a student Start Your Free Trial To Continue Watching As a member, you'll also get unlimited access to over lessons in math, English, science, history, and more. Plus, get practice tests, quizzes, and personalized coaching to help you succeed.

Coming up next: Shakespeare's The Taming Of The Shrew: Summary & Analysis You're on a roll. Keep up the good work! Your next lesson will play in 10 seconds 0:01 Who Are the Rude Mechanicals? 1:59 Act One, Scene Two 2:40 Act Three, Scene One 3:46 Act Four, Scene Two 4:06 Act Five, Scene One 5:49 Lesson Summary Add to Add to Add to Want to watch this again later? Log in or sign up to add this lesson to a Custom Course. Custom Courses are courses that you create from Study.com lessons. Use them just like other courses to track progress, access quizzes and exams, and share content. Teachers Organize and share selected lessons with your class. Make planning easier by creating your own custom course. Students Create a new course from any lesson page or your dashboard. From any lesson page: Click "Add to" located below the video player and follow the prompts to name your course and save your lesson. From your dashboard: Click on the "Custom Courses" tab, then click "Create course". Next, go to any lesson page and begin adding lessons.

Edit your Custom Course directly from your dashboard. Personalize: Name your Custom Course and add an optional description or learning objective. Organize: Create chapters to group lesson within your course. Remove and reorder chapters and lessons at any time. Share your Custom Course or assign lessons and chapters. Teacher Edition: Share or assign lessons and chapters by clicking the "Teacher" tab on the lesson or chapter page you want to assign. Students' quiz scores and video views will be trackable in your "Teacher" tab. Premium Edition: You can share your Custom Course by copying and pasting the course URL. Only Study.com members will be able to access the entire course. Create an account to start this course today Try it free for 5 days! Instructor: Richard Davis Richard teaches college writing and has a master's degree in creative writing. What are rude mechanicals? Unfortunately, they are not ill-tempered robots, as the name might suggest. However, the rude mechanicals are still an essential part of Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream.' In this lesson, we'll identify the members of the group and discuss the comedic role the rude mechanicals play. Who Are the Rude Mechanicals?

'Rude Mechanicals' isn't just a cool name for a band. In fact, the phrase refers to a specific group of characters in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. The rude mechanicals are skilled laborers, or craftsmen, from Athens who want to put on a play for the city's royalty. There are six members in this group. The leader of the group is Peter Quince, the carpenter. Quince chooses the play, assigns the parts, and directs the actors as they rehearse. He also delivers the prologue, a speech before the play starts, in the play the rude mechanicals put on. The next member is Snug, the joiner, a kind of carpenter who makes doors, window frames, and cabinets. He claims to be 'slow of study,' so he is happy to play the part of the lion. The third, and most important, member of the group is Nick Bottom. Bottom has an overblown sense of self-confidence, so his ego goes overboard when he is given the lead part in the play: Pyramus. Additionally, Bottom is the only one of the rude mechanicals who interacts extensively with characters outside of the group.

In fact, he becomes the love interest of Titania, the queen of the fairies. The fourth member of the group is Francis Flute, the bellows-mender. Flute is disappointed when he learns he will be playing the part of Thisby, the lady who falls in love with Pyramus. The fifth member of the group is Tom Snout, the tinker - a craftsman who works with metals. Quince casts him as Pyramus' father. However, because the rude mechanicals can't afford to build a set for their play, Snout plays the part of a wall. The sixth member of the group is Robin Starveling, the tailor. Originally, he is supposed to play the part of Thisby's mother, but he ends up playing the part of 'moonshine.' This is because Pyramus and Thisby meet under the light of the moon, and the rude mechanicals don't know if there will be a window in the room where they'll be performing. What happens to them? As a group, the rude mechanicals only appear in four scenes. Let's look at each of these individually. Act One, Scene Two The rude mechanicals first appear in Act One, Scene Two.

Quince has called a meeting at his house, and he announces that the group will be performing the play 'Pyramus and Thisby', which tells the story of two lovers whose parents forbid them to be together. Sounds like Romeo and Juliet, doesn't it? Quince assigns the parts, but Bottom attempts to take over the meeting, volunteering to play every part himself. Quince gets Bottom to calm down, appealing to his ego with the following lines: 'You can play no part but Pyramus; for Pyramus is a sweet-faced man; a proper man, as one shall see in a summer's day; a most lovely gentleman-like man: therefore you must needs play Pyramus.' Act Three Scene One The next scene the rude mechanicals appear in is Act Three, Scene One. The group meets to rehearse in the woods outside of Athens. During this rehearsal, Bottom makes several suggestions to make the play more 'suitable' for the royal audience. First, he instructs Quince to write a prologue that explains that the violence in the play isn't real. Next, he suggests that the lion should give a brief speech when he first enters, explaining to the ladies in the audience that he isn't a real lion.

Finally, he suggests that the moonshine and the wall should be played by actors. Once the actors actually start rehearsing, a mischievous fairy named Puck casts a spell that turns Bottom's head into a donkey's head. When the other rude mechanicals see Bottom's new head, they flee in terror. Soon after, the fairy queen Titania, who is under a love spell, enters and immediately falls in love with Bottom. All the while, Bottom is unaware of his new appearance. Later in the play, when the fairies end the spell on Bottom and let him go, Bottom believes that his experience in the woods was just a dream. Act Four, Scene Two The next scene in which the rude mechanicals appear is Act Four, Scene Two. Once again, the group is gathered in Quince's house, but Bottom is nowhere to be found. The rude mechanicals are anxious because they cannot put on their play without a leading man. Suddenly, Bottom enters, unwilling to explain what happened in the woods but eager to get ready for the play. × Play within a Play - Ovid's Metamorphoses "Shakespeare himself has shown that he was proud to be Ovid's successful ape." by R. K.

Root * Demetrius, with Helena in hot pursuit, pedals through a forest where an under-skilled amateur repertory group rehearses and a handful of fairies lives. Sound almost familiar? It's the nineteenth century setting of the 1999 movie release (starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Calista Flockhart) of Midsummer Night's Dream, one of Shakespeare's comedies that owes a great debt to the Romans. While Shakespeare may have been the world's greatest writer, originality in storyline wasn't his forte. Instead of inventing stories, he embellished ones he borrowed -- principally from other renowned storytellers, like Vergil and Ovid, who retold familiar myths in their major works, Aeneid and Metamorphoses. "The classical equivalent of the Bible, though without canonical authority." Neatly interweaving 15 books of stories -- telling the entire mythological history of mankind since the creation -- may have been Ovid's greatest achievement in Metamorphoses.

continue reading below our video 4 Tips for Improving Test Performance Taking the story-in-a-story element from Ovid's version, Shakespeare recast the tale of Pyramus and Thisbe seamlessly into his own medium, as a play within a play for wedding entertainment. Both versions have an audience: In Ovid's, Alcithoe and her sisters choose not to honor Bacchus but instead stay at home doing their chores and listening to stories. Given a choice they first opt to hear the tale of the metamorphosis of the mulberry (aka Pyramus and Thisbe). In Midsummer Night's Dream, where the love flower that changes color through Cupid's ministry is love-in-idleness (a pansy), the play is also chosen from a list of mythological alternates and then performed very badly for the highly critical audience of Hippolyta and Theseus . Theseus, like Alcithoe, rejects the ways of Bacchus. Love is unimportant to Theseus. Hermia's father wants his daughter to marry Lysander, although everyone knows she and Lysander are in love. Theseus asserts that it's the father's right to choose his daughter's husband.

If she chooses to disobey, Theseus warns, the consequences will be just as loveless. Hermia But I beseech your grace that I may know The worst that may befall me in this case, If I refuse to wed Demetrius. Theseus SparkNotes: A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Study Questions & Essay Topics Study Questions & Essay Topics A Midsummer Night’s Dream William Shakespeare Study Questions 1. Discuss the role of the play-within-a-play in Act V of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Does the Pyramus and Thisbe story have any relevance to the main story, or is it simply a comical interlude? What effect does the craftsmen’s production of their play have on the tone of A Midsummer Night’s Dream as a whole? The story of Pyramus and Thisbe offers a very subtle return to a couple of the main elements of A Midsummer Night’s Dream: lovers caught up in misunderstanding and sorrow enhanced by the darkness of night. Like the main story of the outer play, the inner play consists of a tragic premise made comical by the actors.

The craftsmen’s unintentionally goofy portrayal of the woe of Pyramus and Thisbe makes the melodramatic romantic entanglements of the young Athenian lovers seem even more comical. However, it is important to recognize as well that the inherent structure of a play-within-a-play allows Shakespeare to show off his talent by inserting a gem of pure comedy. The conflicts have been resolved and a happy ending procured for all; the performance, thus, has no impact on the plot. Rather, the craftsmen’s hilarious bungling of the heavy tragedy allows the audience, and the melodramatic Athenian lovers, to laugh and take delight in the spectacle of the play. 2. How does the play’s broad frame of reference heighten its use of contrast as an atmospheric device? More generally, how does Shakespeare use contrasting tones and characters in the play? That Shakespeare takes his characters from vastly different sources (e.g., the bumbling, rough craftsmen and the delicate, fanciful fairies) contributes to the imaginative scope and pervasive absurdity of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Shakespeare combines the contrasting elements of the play in startling and grotesque ways, as in the royal Titania’s love for the ass-headed Bottom.

He thus creates the sense that the normal rules and operations of reality have been suspended: if the magical Titania can fall in love with the ludicrous Bottom, anything can happen. The play’s extraordinarily varied frame of reference, which includes elements of Greek mythology (Theseus and Hippolyta), aspects of the contemporary London theatrical tradition (males playing females in the craftsmen’s play), characters of Babylonian origin (Pyramus and Thisbe) and from English fairy lore (Puck), and classical literary analogues (Titania and Oberon), adds to the surreal quality of the play by juxtaposing elements that clash stylistically. 3. How is A Midsummer Night’s Dream structured? Is there anything unusual in its treatment of the five-act dramatic form? A Midsummer Night’s Dream fits into four acts all of the material that would normally occupy a five-act play; the main story, climax, and even a period of falling action are capped by a happy turn of events that would seem to mark the play’s end. It is somewhat strange, then, that Shakespeare includes a fifth act. Since he has already resolved the tensions of the main plot, he treats Act V as a joyful comic epilogue.

Except for a short closing scene, the act is committed wholly to the craftsmen’s performance of Pyramus and Thisbe. In wrapping up the conflict before the last act, Shakespeare affords himself the opportunity to give the audience one act of pure, uncomplicated comedy. He offers a play-within-a-play whose comical rendition caps the cheerful mood of the Athenians watching the play. Suggested Essay Topics 1. Though Bottom often steals the show in performance, Puck is usually considered the most important character in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Comparing Puck to Bottom, why might Puck be considered the protagonist? In what way does Puck’s spirit dominate the mood of the play? In what ways does the comedy surrounding Puck differ from that surrounding Bottom? 2. Compare and contrast the Athenian lovers with the craftsmen. In what ways are the dispositions of the two groups different from each other? Are they the same in any way? 3. What role do Theseus and Hippolyta play in A Midsummer Night’s Dream? What is the significance of the fact that they are absent from the play’s main action? 4.

It has been argued that the characters of the Athenian lovers are not particularly differentiated from one another—that Hermia is quite like Helena (even down to her name) and that Demetrius resembles Lysander. Do you think that this is the case, or do you think that the lovers emerge as individuals? If you believe that these characters are quite similar to one another, what do you think Shakespeare’s intent was in making them so? More Help Please discuss 'the play within a play' in Shakespeare's plays. | eNotes Please discuss 'the play within a play' in Shakespeare's plays. noahvox2 | College Teacher | (Level 2) Educator Posted on July 2, 2013 at 1:08 AM A common technique in Shakespeare and other playwrights is that of creating a play within a play or staging a play within a play. Sometimes, another play is literally staged, as in the case of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream.

In that comedy, most of the play's final act is taken up by a performance of Pyramus and Thisbe, a story which the educated among Shakespeare's audience would have known from Ovid's Metamorphoses, a Latin epic poem written 1500 years earlier. Ovid's story is completely tragic and may have influenced Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Ovid's tragic story would not have been appropriate in the context of Midsummer Night's Dream, a comedy that ends with the marriage of three couples. Accordingly, the production of Pyramus and Thisbe in Shakespeare's comedy is given a light tone as male merchants perform it and young man named Francis Flute plays the role of the young woman Thisbe. In contrast to the literal staging of Pyramus and Thisbe in Midsummer Night's Dream, other Shakespearean works have more figurative plays staged within them. For example, in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, one could identify at least two other "plays" going on within that comedy. One figurative play involves the female Viola dressing up a man named Cesario and becoming a close and confidential servant of Orsino, with whom she falls in love.

Another figurative play involves the maidservant Maria trying to trick Malvolio into thinking that Olivia is in love with him. Maria functions like the writer and director of this play. She writes a letter in Olivia's style of handwriting and later enlists Feste to pretend to be Sir Topas and convince Malvolio that he (Malvolio) is insane. So, in Shakespeare's plays, we can find at least two different types of plays within a play. Some plays are literal ones, like the staging of Pyramus and Thisbe; others are more figurative ones, as in Twelfth Night, where one character will pretend to be someone else or where one character will "direct" another character or characters to trick another character or characters. This latter type of play within a play is sometimes called metatheater. Sources:

Question: What is the name of the play within a play in Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'?
Answer: Pyramus and Thisbe